by Olivia Barker, USA TODAY

by Olivia Barker, USA TODAY

The broadcasting legend was miffed that a (relative) pop upstart turned up late to their December 2011 interview, reports the upstart herself, Katy Perry.

"I shouldn't have done the interview: I was playing Madison Square Garden that same night, and I knew that the end of my marriage (to Russell Brand) was coming," Perry tells Billboard in a new interview.

"I was just exhausted and stressed. I'd prepped everyone that I was running late, but Barbara showed up at the original time anyway. When I got there, I apologized immediately, but then she said to me, 'You know, I've only ever waited for one other person this long, and you know who that person was? Judy Garland. You know how she turned out, right?' I was like, 'Oh, snap! Yes, bitch!' "

But Perry deemed the dig a kind of compliment. "I think it's the coolest thing that Barbara Walters shaded me. I just couldn't tell her as we were sitting down for a mega-interview, 'Hey, my marriage is falling apart. Give me a break.' "